What You Can't Finish
by poetanddidntknowit34
Summary: Requested by Anonymous: Can you do an imagine where the reader and Daryl were best friends before the apocalypse, and they reunite at the Hilltop colony?
1. Chapter 1

"Paul Rovia. But my friends call me Jesus." He extended his hand to help me stand back up, a big smile on his face. "We have a camp. Not far from here. The Hilltop Colony. You'll be safe there, and there's lots of other people."

You look this guy up and down; skeptical. "Let me get this straight," You raise your gun again, "You come out of nowhere, knock me on my ass, and then expect me to just go with you to who knows where?"

He nodded. "Yes."

You considered it briefly. It wasn't like you had many options. You reached out and shook his hand. "I'm going to call you Paul, though. 'Jesus' is too sacrilegious for me. I was raised Catholic."

* * *

 _"You comin or not?" Daryl yelled from outside._

 _"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Dixon!" You yell back, trying to pull your boot on and walk down the front steps at the same time._

 _"Keep talkin like that and ya can't have none of this." He dangled a six pack of beer in front of your face._

 _"I'll talk however I want, and I'll still get beer." You playfully jabbed him in the ribs and stole the six-pack while he was distracted. "See?"_

 _"Yer dead!" He smiled and lunged forward._

 _"Don't start fights you can't finish, Dixon!" You yell, running off into the woods._

The dream ended there. You were suddenly awake, lying in your bed, listening to the sounds of the early morning at Hilltop. There was someone knocking on your door, and you groaned and turned over, willing the memory to come back.

The knocking was still there. "What?" You groaned.

"You're supposed to help me milk the cows this morning. Remember?"

Shit. It was Fran. You hated working with her. She never shut up. You never missed Daryl Dixon's stony silence more than when you had to do a chore with Fran. "Yeah, I'm coming. Just give me a minute." You roll out of bed, shaking the cobwebs from your head, and began to get dressed.

 _You ran through the woods at full speed and finally crashed right into the creek. Daryl was right behind you, not missing a beat as he barreled through the cold water right at you._

 _You yell out as he picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. "Truce!" You're afraid he's going to drop you in the water, but he sets you down instead._

 _Daryl swiped the beer out of your hands. "Don't start fights you can't finish." He pulled a can off the plastic carrier as you both sloshed your way to dry land. You found a sunny spot in a clearing and collapsed into the grass, opening the can with a 'hiss'._

You follow Fran into the makeshift barn where the cows were kept. Sighing, you pick up a few pails and the broken one you use as a milking stool. Fran started going on about who knows what. You never knew what that woman was talking about; it's like she forgot there's an apocalypse and still thinks there's celebrity gossip worthy of chatting about. It's as if all the celebrities weren't dead in her mind.

 _"You'll miss me when I go away in the fall." You said, breaking the comfortable silence between the two of you as you lay in the clearing sunning yourselves._

 _"Yeah." You expected him to deny it, so this clear admission of thoughts and inner feelings shocked you a bit. "Won't be the same round here."_

 _"You'll just have Merle to hang out with."_

 _"Don't remind me." Daryl slung a scrawny arm over his face._

 _You reached down and took his other hand in yours. "You could come with me?"_

 _Daryl just shook his head. "I'd never get into a fancy college like you."_

 _"You could just move to the city with me. I hear Atlanta's nice. And you could open a mechanic shop or sumthin."_

 _"Nah." He lolled his head to the side to look at you. "Merle and me are gonna figure sumthin out." It was quiet for a bit. "Just don't forget bout me when you make new friends and have bigger adventures."_

 _"I could never forget about you, Daryl."_

"Y/N!" You snap out of it when you hear Fran yelling at you.

"Yeah?"

"I've been saying your name for quite a while now. Where'd you go just now?"

You shrug. "Nowhere."

"Hey, guys. Jesus is back." Scott came around the corner and into the barn. "He got back about an hour ago. I don't think he brought supplies, though. But he did bring a lot of people."

"Should we check it out?" You ask, brushing my hands on your jeans and standing.

"Go without me." Fran said, moving milk pails away from the cows. "I'm not too keen on meeting new people. Not after Negan's group."

You shrug. "Suit yourself." You wandered over to the main house, waving to Hilltop people that called out 'good mornings', just to be polite.

 _"I don't leave for another few weeks." You say, upset and sad and angry._

 _Daryl shrugged. "But you're leavin. What's the difference between us sayin good-bye now or then?"_

 _"The difference is that you're cuttin our time short!"_

 _"I told ya. Merle thinks he found us some work or sumthin. So, we're heading a little further south. He wants to go now."_

 _"You can't."_

Finally, you get to the old mansion and pull open one of the doors. "Hey, Paul," You call out as you go inside, "I heard you brought people instead of my toothpaste!"

The group was right inside the door when you stepped in. They were all staring at you, hair dripping from the forced shower Gregory probably made them take. "Oh, hi." You wave.

There was a beat of silence. "Hi." The red-haired man was the only one that spoke.

"I'm Y/N." You shift your weight awkwardly. "Welcome to Hilltop."

"We're not staying." The one with a full brown beard said roughly.

"Well, whether you're staying or not, wel—" You broke off mid-sentence as movement caught your eye from the top of the staircase. "Oh my god." You practically screamed.

The look of shock and relief on your face probably looked more like "terror", and the group probably expected to see a walker on the stairs when they turned around to follow your line of sight. But, instead of a walker, they only saw Daryl Dixon rooted to his spot on the staircase, the same look of shock and relief playing on his features. The air seemed to be sucked out of the room and for a beat, no one moved.

Then, Daryl was flying down the staircase at top speed as your knees gave out and you started to cry. He caught you and enveloped you in the same hug he'd given you after your boyfriend cheated on you. "I thought you were dead." He said, quietly. "Merle and I went to your house after the outbreak, but it was trashed."

You nod. "I left in a hurry. I wanted to try to find you."

He let go of you finally, and wiped the tears from your cheeks. "Don't go cryin on me now, girl." You both started to laugh.

"You know her?" A woman with brown hair asked, and you were both suddenly conscious of the fact that there were other people in the room.

"Yeah. This is Y/N. We've been friends since we were little." Daryl clapped his hand on your back a little harder than he probably meant to.

You looked him up and down and said, "Yeah, and it looks like not much changed since then. You're still a punk." You smirked at him, digging into his side with your pointer finger.

"Don't start nuthin' ya can't finish." He laughed, picked you up, and slung you over his shoulder. "I'm still stronger than ya."

"Truce!" You call out, just like old times, and it gets you set back on the ground. Everyone in the group was gaping at you two. "Why are they staring at us like that?" I ask.

"We've just never seen this side of Daryl before." The man with the beard said.

"I can be fun, Rick." Daryl said, trying to frown.

"Damn near playful even," The red-headed man mumbled in surprise.

"Oh, have I got stories for you, then." You nudge Daryl. "Dixon the Younger here was the most fun person I hung out with when I was little."

"Those are stories I want to hear." The brunette woman said.

"Ya ain't gonna hear shit." Daryl said as threateningly as possible.

"Tell you what." You address Rick. "You let me come back to live in your camp with you guys, and I'll tell you any stories you want to hear."

Rick shifted his weight, and almost smiled a bit. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Too many to keep track."

"How many people have you killed?"

"Two."

"Why?"

"They tried to hurt me."

There was a pause, before Rick nodded and said, "Welcome to the group, Y/N."

 _"You can't." You repeated again. Then, you stepped forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you."_

 _There was only sadness in his eyes as Daryl said, "Don't start what ya can't finish."_

You leaned your head on your best friend and the only man you've ever truly loved. "I won't start what I can't finish." You whispered, wrapping your arms around his.

He nodded knowingly. "Me neither."

* * *

 **I do requests! Just send me an ask on Tumbler (username: poetanddidntknowit34) or PM me with a request!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Requested by several people:** Can you do a part 2 to What You Can't Finish?

 **What You Can't Finish Pt. 2**

When you got back to Alexandria with the rest of the group, you were itching to be assigned a room. You'd been living in a tent on a cot since you arrived at the Hilltop, and it would feel good to sleep in a house and a bed again. "Maggie will find you a house assignment," Rick said as the others unloaded the RV, "Dinner's in a few hours, everyone."

Maggie showed you around a bit, introducing you to people as you went along, before she found her list of available rooms in the town. "We don't really have a whole house available, but we can ask Carol if she'd mind sharing."

You follow her over to a house where a woman with short grey hair was smoking on the porch. "Hi, Carol." Maggie said.

"Who's your friend?" Carol asked.

"This is Y/N." Maggie said, putting a hand on your shoulder. "She's an old friend of Daryl's that we ran into and brought back with us."

"Nice to meet you." She smiled, but didn't make a move to get up.

"Do you mind if Y/N shares this house with you? We're all out of empties, and I was wondering if you'd be OK with doubling up?" Maggie smiled as she asked for the favor.

"I don't want to impose," You start.

"Nonsense." Carol stood and walked down the steps to shake your hand. "Would you mind helping me with dinner? Rick says we're having dinner together as a group to get to know you, and I could use some help making all that food."

"No problem." You thank her and follow her inside to put your things down and start on dinner.

* * *

"OK, OK," A woman named Michonne said to calm everyone back down again. The group was crowded into Carol's and your living room, stuffed full of fettuccine alfredo and giggling over glasses of scotch. "What I want to know," She said once the room had quieted, "Is how you two even became friends in the first place." She pointed at you and Daryl, perched next to each other on the sofa, as she spoke.

"Well," You start to laugh, "I can promise you, you've never heard a weirder start to a friendship. Minus apocalypse situations, I can guarantee you, this is the strangest." You set your glass down and lean forward a bit, getting into story-teller mode. Daryl draped his arm around the back of the sofa where you were sitting and watched as you started in on the story. "I think we were like, 6 years-old, and my family had just moved in down the hill from his. So, our moms decided that we needed friends or something, and arranged a play date. You know how moms do. They arrange something where they pretend it's for the kids, but really it's for them." This earned a few smiles, but you weren't to the best part yet. "My mom was really excited to talk to another adult after dealing with me all day every day, so she suggested that Daryl and I go play outside."

 _"Whatcha wanna do?" Daryl asked, looking around the empty backyard and standing as far from you as possible. "And I ain't playin no dumb house or anythin like that." He huffed._

 _You spot a soccer ball across the yard. "Wanna kick that around?"_

 _He shrugged. "Guess so."_

 _You ran over to the ball and gave it a swift quick in the direction of your new neighbor. "Do you play soccer?"_

 _"Nah." He kicked it back._

 _"I can tell." You jogged over to the ball that had gone several feet from you and kicked it back._

 _"Soccer's dumb." He mumbled, but made no move to stop playing._

 _You kick the ball back and forth in silence for a while. Daryl didn't have to move hardly at all from his spot on the grass, whereas you were running all about trying to chase down the stray kicks. "Try to hit it straight on. Like this," You demonstrate as you kick the ball back to him. "You're hitting it with the top of your foot too much. And kick it just a bit harder."_

 _"Shut up." He said quietly. "I can do it."_

 _"Then do it." You say, and then instantly regret it._

 _Daryl kicked the ball hard and connected with it straight on, just like you said. The black and white ball suddenly became a grey blur as it slammed hard into your nose and mouth. "Oh no." You heard Daryl say as the ball dropped to your feet and you put your hand slowly to your face._

 _There was a little bit of blood dripping from your nose and one of your front baby teeth was lying on the lawn next to the forgotten soccer ball. You burst into tears. Sobbing full volume, you sank into the grass and sat there and wailed. Daryl, horrified and embarrassed and worried about getting yelled at, plopped down on the grass next to you and began to sob at the top of his lungs, too. You both sat there, he covered in dirt and you covered in blood, crying loud enough to wake the dead._

 _Daryl's older brother came home just then, and the sixteen year-old stood motionless in the backyard, baked out of his mind and wondering if he was seeing any of this right. "What the fuck?" He said before flinging open the back patio door. "Ma! There's two little girls crying in the backyard!"_

"So, I'm sobbing, Daryl is sobbing, and Merle is just standing there doing absolutely nothing about it." The group is roaring with laughter now. "Merle goes and gets our moms, who come out in a flurry of 'shh, it'll be alright's and trying desperately to get us to calm down. Finally, I stop crying, and this causes Daryl to calm down too, and his mom is just like, 'what the hell happened?'. And Daryl sniffs and whispers, 'I accidentally kicked her in the face with the soccer ball'. And suddenly, they're laughing at us!"

You pause again to let them get their own laughter out. "So, Ma Dixon takes—"

"Ma Dixon?" Maggie asks.

"Yeah." You nod. "I always called her that. Either that, or just 'Ma'. She was like a second mom to me." You smile, and continue with your narrative. "Anyway, Ma Dixon takes us all inside and sets me up on the counter next to the kitchen sink where my mom can wipe the blood off of my face. I'm not even in pain anymore, so I'm just chatting away, telling my mom all about my day playing soccer with my new friend Daryl. Finally, when it's time to leave, Ma and Daryl go to wave us goodbye as we drive off, and before I get in the car, Daryl awkwardly walks up to me, says 'sorry I kicked you in the face', gives me that really fast, really awkward hug that little boys always give little girls, and walks back to his mom." You beam and pat Daryl's leg, who is working his jaw next to you to keep from smiling. "And we've been friends ever since that."

"That is most definitely a weird beginning to a friendship." Eugene said from across the room.

"C'mon, what else can you tell us about Daryl?" Carol prodded.

"Why the hell am I so interestin all of a sudden?" Daryl snapped, but everyone knew he was joking.

"Because we finally have someone that will tell us about you." Carl pointed out. "We know your name is Daryl and your brother's name was Merle, but other than that, you won't tell us anything about yourself."

Daryl snorted, but looked at you to continue. "Well, I could tell you lots of stuff. We told each other everything growing up." You patted his knee again and smiled up at him. "But, some secrets I'll take to my grave. As I expect he'll do for me." Daryl grunted in response.

"OK, but give us another story. Something funny, but also maybe something we can tease him about." Glenn piped up now. Everyone was getting more into the conversation as the scotch loosened them up.

You laugh out loud, remembering the perfect story. "Checkers."

Daryl flipped around to face you on the couch. "Doncha dare." He narrowed his eyes at you. "That was close to 30 years ago, and you need to let it go."

"Oh, now I gotta know." Rick said.

You smirk and blow Daryl a kiss playfully. "Sorry, Dixon. The public demands the checkers story, and I must obey."

He frowned, but mumbled, "Go ahead."

"So," You start, "This is how I learned that, not only is Daryl not very patient, but he can sure pout something fierce." You can practically hear Daryl rolling his eyes next to you. "We were, what? Fourteen? Fifteen?"

"Fifteen." Daryl said.

"Right. Fifteen. I had come over to his house after school, just like every other day, and shortly after we got there, it began pouring rain. Huge thunderstorm, flood advisory, the whole shebang. So, Ma offered to make us both dinner, and said I could stay until the storm blew over."

 _"I just need to call my mom and let her know I'm safe." You stand up from where you and Daryl were flipping through a magazine on the floor of the living room. Daryl was trying to show you a crossbow that he wanted to buy and learn to hunt with._

 _"The phone's in the kitchen, dear." Ma said as she went upstairs to take her make-up off before starting dinner._

 _"This one's a Horton Scout HD 125." Daryl said, picking up the magazine and following you into the kitchen. He leaned up against the counter next to the wall phone and tried to show you the picture as you dialed the phone. Thunder shook the patio door next to you. "Merle promised he'd teach me. I almost got enough money for it, too."_

 _"Daryl, leave her alone for a minute, will ya?" Ma was back in the kitchen again. "She's trying to make a phone call."_

 _"Sorry." Daryl mumbled, but rather than going back to the living room, he hopped up to sit on the counter and watched you listen to the ringing on the phone._

 _"Mom?" You say when she picked up. "Yeah, I'm safe. I'm at Daryl's—"_

 _"HI MOM!" Daryl shouted into the phone._

 _"Daryl says hi, in case you missed it." You listen a second, then turn to Daryl and say, "Mom says hi, and not to yell into phones." He rolled his eyes, and you go back to speaking to your mom. "So, yeah. I'm going to wait the storm out here. Ma's making French toast!" French toast was your favorite. You listen again. "Yeah, I'll call you before I leave here. OK, bye." You hang up the phone._

 _"So, this one is a Stryker, and it's one of the best bows there is, and this one is—"_

 _"You're unusually full of energy today." You comment, going back into the living room. "Am I going to get a moment of peace?"_

 _A playful glint sparked in Daryl's eyes as he said, "You'll get some peace alright. After I take you out."_

 _"Don't start fights you can't finish, Dixon." You say, punching him in the chest and taking off running towards the front entryway._

 _The Dixon house had a looping layout, so one could essentially run from room to room endlessly without ever having to turn around. And this is what you planned to do. You both tore through the front entryway, the den, the dining room, and finally the kitchen. As you thundered past Ma, she yelled out, "You are too old to be running through the house like this!"_

 _"She started it!" Daryl yelled back, slipping a bit on the tile in the kitchen, but not stopping at all._

 _You run back through the living room, into the front entryway, and finally up the stairs in the direction of the bedrooms. "Will you two shut up?" Merle yelled from inside his room._

 _"Stuff it, Merle!" You yell as you run past, sliding into Daryl's room at the end of the hall like a baseball player sliding into home. You snap the door shut behind you, sit against it, and hear Daryl thud into it behind you._

 _"You can't hide in there forever." He said through the wood._

 _"You're right. The smell is already starting to drive me out!" You giggled. Suddenly, the door was being pushed open slowly and steadily by a fifteen year-old who was much stronger than he looked. You stood up quickly, causing the door to fly inward and Daryl to stumble in. He didn't miss a beat, though, picking you up and slinging you over his shoulder. "Put me down." You choked out through your giggles, pounding on his back lightly with your fists as he spun you in circles. "Truce!"_

 _Daryl laughed victoriously, dumping you face-first onto his bed where you landed with a bounce. "Don't start things you can't finish." He said. You look up to say something back, but instead of a snarky comment, you get a pair dirty boxer shorts slingshotted into your face._

 _You shriek a bit and scramble out the bed. "What is wrong with you?" You demand._

 _"Dinner's ready!" Ma called up the stairs before you could get an answer._

 _"Race you to the table!" Daryl said, pushing you back onto the bed and taking off down the stairs._

* * *

 _"God, I'm so bored." Daryl complained for the third time on the couch next to you. The storm was still raging an hour after dinner, and it had knocked out the cable._

 _"You two could play a game?" Ma suggested, not looking up from her knitting._

 _"That sounds fun. What games do you have?" You ask, putting your book down._

 _"Just checkers." Ma pointed to the small bookshelf in the corner of the living room. "It's on top of the bookcase."_

 _"C'mon, Daryl, let's play checkers." You go and get the game, spilling the contents out onto the coffee table in front of the couch and starting to set it up. "Do you want to be red or black?"_

 _"Doesn't matter."_

 _"Good, cause I'm red."_

 _You start playing checkers, and for the first few moves, it's almost fun. But as you take more and more of Daryl's game pieces, and he takes less of yours, you could tell he was getting irritated. You were contemplating a move for a while before Daryl yelled, "Just move a damn piece!"_

 _"I'm working on it." You consider the game board again, before moving one piece and taking three of his._

 _"Fuck this game," Daryl said, flipping the game board over as he settled back on the couch to pout._

 _Game pieces scattered about the coffee table, and Ma finally looked up from her knitting. "Watch your language, Daryl Timothy Dixon."_

 _"Timothy." You giggle. "Can I call you Tim?" Daryl glared at you. "Oh," You laugh condescendingly, "Don't pout now." You wiggle a finger in his rib cage and he falls sideways in an awkward attempt to get away from the tickling AND still pout at the same time. "I like you better when you smile." You say, falling back on the couch to lay your head on his stomach, both of you just staring at the ceiling. "But if you're gonna be a little bitch about it, I guess I can play that game, too."_

 _It was silent for a few moments, before Daryl whispered, "I ain't a bitch."_

"And we've never tried to play a board game again." You conclude, watching the smirks on your new family's face twist into smiles.

"Sounds like you're a sore loser, Daryl." Abraham said, knocking back the rest of his scotch.

"I ain't a sore loser." Daryl pointed out. "I just think checkers is stupid."

"OK. Whatever you say." Glenn teased.

Suddenly, you were yawning. "This has been a lot of fun. Thank you guys so much for making me feel welcome." Everyone nodded and murmured things like 'yeah, no problem' and 'our pleasure'. "I should go to bed, though. I'm exhausted." You stand and stretch. "Goodnight, everyone." You wave goodbye before placing a light, quick kiss on Daryl's cheek and climbing the stairs to your new room.

* * *

 **A/N: So, this was a super long update, but I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you guys have fun reading it. Remember, if you ever have a request, just drop me a line, either on here or on Tumblr :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning:** Contains mentions of abuse.

 **I got a bunch more requests to continue this fic, so strap in, cause here's:**

 **What You Can't Finish Pt. 3**

 _"Harley, we gotta go now!" You yell up the stairs, pumping the shotgun a few more times and firing off rounds into the skulls of the dead that were muscling their way into your house. "Harley!" You screech. No answer._

 _You drop a couple more dead ones before turning and climbing the stairs two at a time. "Oh, you stupid, stupid girl." You say angrily once you reach the hallway. You told her not to open Mom's door. You had told her to just pack a bag quick. You had told her you both had to leave immediately. But Harley was too quiet and caring for this new world. She'd checked on Mom, and now she was lying in the hallway covered in blood and staring blankly at the ceiling. "Stupid girl." There were tears running down your face as you put one round each into the brains of your mom and your baby sister._

 _Dead ones were starting to come up the stairs, groaning and reaching out for you. You had to leave. Now._

You woke up and shot straight upright, a scream trapped in your throat. It took you a moment to remember where you were, but once you realized that you were in your bed in Alexandria, you relaxed. But only a little. The sweat on your face had cooled and you shivered in the bed, your breath still coming in short gasps. You were starting to have an anxiety attack, and if you didn't calm down soon, you think you may pass out.

You threw the covers off of your bed and swung your legs over the side of the bed. Placing your hands on your knees, you focused on slowing your breathing down. After several minutes of this, you were finally calm enough that you could think clearer. Too bad the only thing you could think about was your dream. Normally, on the nights when you have nightmares, you spend the rest of the time awake and upset. But that was before you had other people to confide in.

So, you got up out of bed, pulled a sweatshirt on over the shirt you were sleeping in, and slipped quietly into the hall. You didn't think you'd woken Carol, but you weren't sure and still wanted to be careful. You slid into the pair of flip-flops that Rick had found for you on a run last week, and went silently out onto the street in front of the house. The moon wasn't out, so it was nearly pitch black out, but you had made the walk from your house to Daryl's enough times in the past month to know the way pretty well. You shivered against the chilly fall air and started walking.

 _The thunderstorm hadn't let up all evening, which meant that you were going to be stranded at Daryl's for the night. At least he'd stopped pouting over the game of checkers, and had even helped you to clean the mess up. "You can sleep on the couch, if you'd like?" Ma offered. "It's not the most comfortable of places, but it's better than the floor."_

 _"That'd be great, thanks."_

 _"Daryl, go get her a clean pair of sweatpants and a shirt." Ma said as she pulled the sleeping bag out of the hall closet. She began trying to make the couch as comfortable as possible as you called your mom to let her know you'd be staying the night._

 _"You sure you don't want me to drive up to get you?" She asked. You knew she was more worried about you over-staying your welcome than your safety. She knew you were safe._

 _"I'm sure. Ma Dixon insisted." You reassure her. "It's dangerous out, and neither of us should be out in it."_

 _"Alright, well, call me in the morning before you leave for school."_

 _"I will." You hung up._

 _"Here." Daryl had a bundle of clothes in his arms. "These're clean."_

 _You excused yourself to go into the bathroom and change into the pair of grey sweatpants and black "Led Zeppelin" band shirt that Daryl had rustled up for you. "I didn't know you were a Zeppelin fan." You said, coming out of the bathroom._

 _"I'm not. The shirt was cheap and I needed a new one." He shrugged and tossed your pillow onto the couch. "There ya go."_

 _"Thank you guys for letting me stay here." You say, sitting on the couch and beginning to put your hair in a braid._

 _"It's no problem, Y/N. You're like family." Ma said as she placed a kiss on the top of your head before going upstairs to bed. Ever since you were really little, Ma had tended to treat you like the daughter she never had. You and her sons certainly fought and got along like siblings. "Goodnight." She called._

 _"Night." You and Daryl both said._

 _"Got everythin ya need?" Daryl asked, starting to move in the direction of the stairs._

 _"I'm good, yeah." You say, flipping the finished braid over your shoulder._

 _"OK. Night." He nodded and went upstairs to his room._

 _You fell asleep relatively quickly, but weren't asleep for long. A loud crash of thunder shook the house and you shot upright, breathing raggedly and head swimming with panic. You were on the verge of an anxiety attack. So, you flung the sleeping bag off of you and went over to the base of the stairs. Everything was quiet, so you tried to keep it that way as you went slowly upstairs._

 _"Daryl?" You whispered, pushing his door open carefully. "Daryl?" A little louder this time._

 _Daryl was sprawled on his back, one arm over his face and one leg dangling out of bed, snoring lightly as you opened the door wider. On the third whispered statement of his name, he startled awake and squinted into the partial darkness. "Y/N?" He rubbed his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. He wasn't wearing a shirt, so you could see the new tattoo on his upper bicep. It was only half-completed by design, and you had the matching one on your shoulder. Seeing it almost made you smile. "You OK?" He asked._

 _You didn't trust yourself to speak, so you just stood in the doorway, trying to figure out what to do. You hoped it was dark enough to hide the few tears that rolled down your cheeks. He sat up further and asked, "The thunder?" You nod. Before your mother had left him and moved down the hill from the Dixons, your father used to beat you on occasion. But he really liked to rage and yell and shout abuse at you. Loud, sudden noises made you nervous now, and could sometimes set off an anxiety attack. Daryl knew this, and that's why, for all the teasing and messing with you that he does, he tried his hardest not to slam things or shout without warning. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go and bring your sleeping bag and pillow up here."_

 _You were starting to calm down a bit, but the thunder was still coming in loud, irregular increments, making you jump and your stomach twist in knots. When you had collected your sleeping bag and returned upstairs, Daryl had cleared off a spot on the floor right next to his bed. "Do you want the bed or the floor?" He offered._

 _"The floor is fine. Thanks." You weren't going to wake him up AND kick him out of his bed. Daryl spread the sleeping bag out on the floor, then crawled back into bed to get out of your way._

 _You wiggled into the sleeping bag and stretched out on your stomach on the floor, trying to calm back down again. Daryl laid down on his stomach, too, and draped an arm over the edge of the bed to rest a hand on your back. He moved it in slow, soothing circles between your shoulder blades, and you felt the panic attack slowly wash away. "Feeling better?" Daryl mumbled after a while. You think you said 'yes', but you can't be sure because you fell asleep immediately after._

 _In the morning, you woke to the smell of pancakes and the sound of birds enjoying the rain-free morning outside the window. Daryl's hand was still resting on your back, moving up and down slowly with each breath you took. You wished it was Saturday and you could lay like this all day. But, it was like, what? Thursday? And you knew you would have to get up soon to get ready for class. But for now, you just closed your eyes again and enjoyed the limbo between the waking and sleeping worlds._

 _"Daryl? Y/N?" Ma whispered as she opened the door slowly. Seeing you on the floor and not in the bed was probably a small relief to her, but you don't think she suspected anything happened in the first place. Ma stepped over you as you pretended to still be asleep and sat on the edge of the bed. Shaking Daryl lightly, she kept saying his name softly._

 _"What?" He finally grumbled, pulling his dangling arm back under the covers and burying his face in his pillow._

 _Ma was shaking you a little now, too, and saying your name, so you figured the jig was up, and you may as well open your eyes. "Hi." You say sleepily, propping yourself up a bit on your elbows and yawning._

 _"I made pancakes." Ma stood and walked over to the door. "I put your clothes in the bathroom, Y/N, in case you wanted to shower before school."_

 _"Thanks." You mumble. "Do you happen to have any eyeliner I can borrow?" Yours was probably smudged to hell._

 _"Yeah, I'll put it in the bathroom, too."_

 _"Good." Daryl said, the sound muffled in his pillow._

 _"What was that?" You ask._

 _"I said 'good'. You look scary without make-up." You could see him smiling, though his face was buried._

 _"Don't start with me, Dixon," You say as you stand and throw the pillow at him. "It's too early for your shit." You stretch. "Merle and I are gonna eat all your pancakes." You say nonchalantly as you follow Ma out of the room toward the kitchen._

 _That got him out of bed and down the stairs._

 _After breakfast, you beat Daryl upstairs, which meant you got to shower and get ready first. You only had 30 minutes before the bus arrived, so you took a fast shower and gargled a little mouthwash, hoping to chase away whatever rank-ness you had accumulated from not brushing your teeth the night before. You then pulled on your jeans and bra, but paused before slipping into the same shirt from yesterday. Instead, you opted to pull the Zeppelin shirt back on, swiped a couple of lines of eyeliner on, and traded places with Daryl, who had briefly gone back to bed while you got ready._

 _When Daryl had showered and finally tracked down his backpack, he came downstairs to find you seated in the kitchen, Ma diligently finishing up a double-plait braid for your hair. "You ready?" He said. "Cause we gotta go."_

 _"You're never in a hurry to get to school." You say, slinging your backpack over your shoulder and brushing past him, knocking his shoulder with yours as you went. "But, yeah. We should get goin."_

 _You were mostly silent on your walk to the bus stop. That's how it normally was: neither of you had the energy to converse before noon. But, once you had loaded the bus and were making the slow, winding descent down the hill, Daryl leaning over and asked, "Feeling better?"_

 _"Yeah. Thanks."_

You were standing on the porch of Daryl's house in Alexandria now, debating as to whether you should knock on the door and risk waking Rick and Michonne in the house next door. You try the door first instead, and you're a little surprised to find it unlocked. But, then again, you'd have to be some kind of stupid to try to rob one of your only neighbors in an apocalypse. You took your shoes off in the front entryway and tossed your sweatshirt onto the couch as you walked to the stairs.

"Daryl?" You whispered, opening the door to his room slowly. "Daryl?" A little louder this time.

Daryl was sprawled on his back, one arm over his face and one leg dangling out of bed, snoring lightly. "Daryl." You said just above a whisper.

Daryl jolted awake, grabbing his knife off the nightstand as he sat up. Squinting in the partial darkness, he said, "Y/N?" He put the knife back down. "You OK?" You just stood there, arms crossed. "Nightmare?" You nod. "Yeah, I get 'em, too. Want to talk about it?" You shook your head 'no'. He pulled the covers back and patted the bed next to him. "Well, what are ya waitin for? C'mere." You go over to try to crawl into the bed, but not before Daryl stops you by placing a hand on your shoulder. "Wait. Are ya wearin my Zeppelin shirt?"

You look down. You were. You had had it for so long, you almost forgot it had been his in the first place. "Yeah. I guess I kept it all this time." It was faded and had a few holes from over 30 years of wear, and you mostly only ever wore it to bed now. "I snagged it from my house just before I was forced out by a horde."

"Well, I'm glad you've kept it safe," He laughed as you crawled under the covers. "Cause I sure as hell haven't seen it since the night I leant it to you."

You smile and stretch out on your stomach, relaxing into the soothing circles on your back. "It's mine now, so deal with it."

"That's OK." He said, propping his head up on his elbow and humming softly as he rubbed your back absently.

"What song is that?" You mutter.

"Not sure. Maggie was singing it once, and it stuck in my head."

"It's nice."

"Mhmm." He went back to humming the tune. After a while, he whispered, "Y/N? You still awake?"

"Yeah."

"I screwed up." He said bluntly.

"What are you talking about?"

"That day on the porch. When we were eighteen. I screwed up." He let his hand drop to the mattress as you shifted to lay on your side. You look frown, a little confused. You knew what day he was talking about, but were still unsure as to why he was bringing it up. "I thought bout that day almost every day for the last 30 years. I shouldnta rejected ya like that. I shouldda gone with ya to Atlanta. I regretted what I said almost the second it left my mouth."

You place a hand on his bare arm, absent-mindedly running a thumb over the tattoo that you had the other half to. "It's OK, D—"

"No, it's not OK." He cut you off. "You deserved better than that. And I had the chance to say I was sorry when you moved back in with your mom after she got sick, but I was embarrassed about how I'd been that day." He frowned. "Then the world went to shit and I felt like shit when you weren't nowhere near the house when Merle and I went to try and find ya. For the last several years, I've been beatin myself up cause I had the chance to tell you I loved you, but instead of just doing it, I pussied. And I thought I'd never get the opportunity to say it. My last words to you were a rejection." He sighed. "I did almost go to visit you in the year between when you moved back and the world ended, but I was afraid you had gotten married and had kids or sumthin. I was afraid you'd be happy without me while I was miserable without you."

"I was miserable, too, you know. I thought you didn't want me in your life."

He shook his head and it fell silent for a long time. You could tell he had more he wanted to say, but wanted you to be the one to say it. Except this time, you wanted him to be the one. "And now, finding you again after all this time," He started again. "It got me thinking." He looked down at the mattress. "Maybe we should just do it?"

"Do what?"

"Start sumthin we can finish."

You smiled and moved your hand from his arm to his cheek. "Truce?" You whispered lovingly.

"Truce." He murmured, and leaned down to kiss you softly.

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this! Remember, I'm always up for filling requests.**


	4. Epilogue

**A couple people asked for a part 4, but this is probably the last update I'll do of this story. So, here's:**

 **What You Can't Finish, Epilogue**

"Hey. Y/N." Daryl whispered one morning. You'd been trying to sleep in a bit, since Daryl had been out late on a run with Rick the night before, and it made it hard to sleep when he did that. "Y/N." He said again.

"What?" You mumble, turning over to try to get away from him.

"I have sumthin I wanna ask you." He's poking your back now, trying to get you to turn back over.

"Can it wait?"

"Yeah, but I can't."

You heave a large sigh and roll over. You'd been living with and 'dating' (well, as much dating as one can do in an apocalypse) this man for the last six months, so you knew that when he got like this, there was no stopping him until he got whatever he wanted. You roll back over and prop yourself up on an elbow. "OK. What is it?"

He holds up a beautiful, shiny diamond ring, a huge lopsided grin on his face. He knew you knew the question by now, but he asked anyway. "Marry me?"

You were trying not to cry, so instead you said, "Took you long enough." And slipped the ring on while he laughed. Then, you tackled him in a barrage of kisses and hugs.

* * *

You flash the ring almost the second you walk into the room. Maggie screams. You scream. Carol screams. Even Michonne lets out a little squeal of excitement.

Rick busts into the room, gun drawn. "What happened?"

"Daryl proposed to Y/N!" Maggie says and you all scream again.

Rick smiled. "I'm glad you said 'yes'. I spent weeks with him just trying to find a ring that he liked. He was really picky about it. Said it had to be perfect."

"Well, it is." You hold out your hand and admire it.

"We have to plan a wedding." Maggie suddenly said. "It doesn't have to be huge, but it would be so much fun. Also, it'd be another step in the direction of our old lives."

You all look at Rick for approval. "If you can get Daryl to agree to that, I don't see why not."

* * *

"Why do we need a wedding?" Daryl asked, scanning the area around Alexandria again. He was on guard duty when you went to talk to him. "Can't I just start calling you my wife and we call it good?"

"I was planning on that, yeah." You nod. "But, Maggie suggested it, and to tell you the truth, it got me really excited. Please?"

He looks at you for a moment, studying your face (which was shooting him the biggest puppy-dog eyes you could muster). "If it'll make you happy."

You smile and kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you."

* * *

This was probably the weirdest wedding you'd ever been to. And it was yours. There were flowers all over the church, sure, but half the guests had finished a run five minutes ago and were covered in blood, and the groom was in jeans and biker vest. But the weirdest part was the attempt you'd made at a 'dress'. You and had Carol had tried your best to make a wedding dress from some white cloth you found on a run, but it had to be patched and pulled together in some places with other colors. Finally, you scrapped the dress and the idea and settled for a white button-up shirt and a nice pair of jeans.

"It's a slapped-together redneck wedding if I ever saw one." You laugh into the mirror after putting on the little bit of make-up that Maggie and Glenn had found for you on a run. "I love it." Maggie laughed with you as she started trying to tackle your hair.

 _"Are you going to be nice tonight?" Ma asked, trying to fix Daryl's hair and fusing over his tie._

 _"C'mon, Ma." He swatted her hand away lightly and shifted awkwardly. "I can be nice."_

 _"Of course you can." Mom smiled and patted his arm. "You're a very kind young man." Daryl rolled his eyes._

 _Upstairs, you were taking one last look at yourself in your dream dress. You and your mom had both scraped and saved all year in order to buy it and to pay for the prom ticket, only to have your boyfriend dump you a week before the dance. Luckily for you, you had Daryl, who not only beat the shit out of Shaun for hurting you, but also offered to take you to the dance himself._

 _You smooth out the red floor length evening gown one more time, admiring the way it shimmered and made you look twenty-five instead of eighteen. Finally, with one last lipstick check, you decide to head downstairs._

 _When you started descending the stairs, and finally came into full view of the small party awaiting you at the bottom, both moms started crying and fussing over you. "You look so beautiful." Mom said, fixing a few fly-aways in your hair._

 _"Such a gorgeous young lady." Ma said, taking your hand in hers._

 _You were smiling, but also turning bright red from all the attention._

 _"You look really pretty." Daryl muttered, then looked at the floor._

 _"What? No sarcastic remark?" You tease._

 _"Not tonight." He says, pulling on the bright red tie around his neck a little and holding your corsage out at arm's length. "This is for you."_

 _You take the flower out of its plastic and slid it onto your wrist. "Perfect." You say. Then you throw your arms around Daryl's neck and whisper, "Thank you."_

 _"I want pictures!" Ma yells, moving you two around until she had you posed how she wanted. "C'mon, Daryl, look up and smile please."_

 _He looked up and was bright red in the face. You smile and nudge him in the side. "Hey." You whisper. "Relax. You look nice, and tonight will be fun."_

 _He relaxes a little and the red starts to fade. "Smile big!" Mom says and snaps the first photo._

"You ready?" Rick stuck his head into the 'dressing room', his eyes covered with his hands.

"Everyone's decent, Rick, you can look." You say as you smooth out your jeans one more time.

"I think we're ready to start whenever you are. Father Gabriel is all ready to go." Rick gave you a thumbs up before leaving to go back to the church.

"Alright," You say, breathing out slowly, "Let's get this show on the road."

 _The dance was loud. Louder than you expected. But, there was still lots of lights and pretty decorations and people dancing, which is really just how you'd imagined it. "Do you want something to drink?" Daryl asked the moment you walked into the door._

 _"I'm OK." You shake your head. "Wanna dance?"_

 _"Not really, but I will if you want to." He said, walking toward the edge of the dancefloor._

 _You followed and began to 'dance' to the pop song that was blasting through the speakers. Neither of you really knew how to dance, so you were both just moving awkwardly from side-to-side, trying to keep in time. Finally, it was too much, and you both started laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing. You decided to take a break from 'dancing' and prop yourselves up against a side wall, making snarky and sarcastic comments about the people and the songs._

 _This was the kind of dance you wanted, you realized. Not whatever night you would've had with Shaun._

 _The music slowed way down suddenly and everyone was moving closer together, swaying elegantly to the song. "Wanna dance?" Daryl asked, looking at the floor again._

 _You were about to answer, when you spotted Shaun making his way over. "What does he want?" You say, making Daryl's head snap up quickly._

 _"Do you wanna dance with me, Y/N?" Shaun asked._

 _"No." You say, taking Daryl's hand in yours. "I'm here with someone else. I'd rather dance with Daryl, thank you very much."_

 _"Oh come on. Him? Did you see what he did to me?" Shaun points to the faded remnants of a black eye._

 _"You deserved it." Daryl and you both say at the same time._

 _"No, I didn't. I messed up, but you're my girl." Shaun grabs your arm and starts making his way to the dance floor, dragging you behind. "And I'm going to dance with you."_

 _"Hey!" Daryl yelled, storming over to stand in front of Shaun. "She's not your girl. She's her own girl. Now let her go."_

 _"Back off, white trash." Shaun pushed Daryl, and his luck._

 _Daryl reared back and punched Shaun straight in the nose, sending the senior spinning to the floor of the gym. A few people near them stopped dancing to watch. Daryl hauled Shaun up by the lapels of his jackets, and got right into his face. "Now get the fuck away from us." Shaun backpedaled and ran through the crowd at top speed._

 _"Wanna dance?" Daryl asked again. The slower song was still playing, and those who had stopped to watch the fight had gone back to dancing._

 _You start to laugh. "Daryl, you're covered in blood."_

 _He had taken his suit jacket off earlier, and his white shirt was covered in little flecks of blood from Shaun's terrified exhalations. Daryl looked down at the shirt, then back up at you. "Is that a no?"_

 _"It's an 'of course'."_

You'd asked Carol to give you away. There was really no guys at Alexandria that you would've wanted doing it, and Carol kind of reminded you of your mom. When you got to where Daryl and Rick and Maggie were standing, Carol gave you a quick hug before shaking Daryl's hand. You stepped forward to stand next to Daryl, and before Gabriel could open his mouth to start the ceremony, you started to laugh. "Daryl, you're covered in blood." He'd gone on the run with the others, and his shirt was splattered with walker blood. At least he'd washed his face and arms, though.

"Just like prom?" He cracked a smile.

"Just like prom."

 _You wound your arms around his neck and he placed his hands on your waist before you both started to sway back and forth. It was awkward at first, but you both got the hang of it after a minute. "Thank you." You say. "For everything. Shaun's an ass, and I know dances aren't really your thing, but thank you."_

 _"No one's ever gonna hurt you. Promise."_

 _You moved your arms so that they were wrapped tightly around his chest, and he pulled you close as well, and you both stopped swaying. You stayed like that until well after the song had finished._

"Did the bride and groom prepare their own vows?" Gabriel asked.

"More or less." You shrug and turn to face your groom. "When we were ten, there was a boy in the neighborhood that liked to pick on me."

"Jimmy Smith." Daryl nodded. "Kid was an asshole."

"Well, he was following me to the bus stop one morning, pulling on my ponytail and calling me names. I'd told him three times to cut it out, but that kid was asshole." The guests were smiling now as you continued talking. "Then you come out of nowhere and tackle this kid to the ground, and Merle is looming over all of us. Merle picks Jimmy up and dangles him off of the ground by the collar of his shirt. And you look this terrified nine year-old dead in the eyes and say 'If you touch her again, I will beat you til you can't see right'." The small crowd laughed. "And I was only ten at the time, but that was the moment that I knew that I never wanted to be away from you. This is super cheesy, but I knew I'd found my soulmate."

You could see that most of the people there were tearing up now. Even Daryl was a little misty-eyed. Rick patted his shoulder and said, "It's OK to cry, brother."

"Shut up." Daryl muttered.

"Daryl, it's your turn now." Gabriel said.

Daryl took a deep breath and looked you in the eyes. "No one's ever gonna hurt you. Promise."

 _"I had a lot of fun tonight." You say. You and Daryl had ditched the dance early and were now sitting on the bank of the creek near your house. You had your heels dangling absently from one hand and were drawing circles in the dirt next to you with the other. To hell with your dress. It could be dry cleaned._

 _"Me, too. I got to punch someone."_

 _You roll your eyes. "I probably had more fun than if I'd gone with Shaun."_

 _"Shaun's a douche."_

 _"Starting now, I never want to hear that name again."_

 _"OK."_

 _You lay your head on his shoulder and look up at the stars. "It's beautiful out."_

 _"Yeah, you are."_

 _You both look at each other, and instantly burst into uncontrollable laughter. "That was lame. What movie did you get that from?"_

 _Daryl shrugged. "Not sure. But I knew you'd get a kick outta that."_

 _You lightly punch his arm before returning your head to his shoulder. "You're alright, Dixon."_

 _"You're pretty OK, too."_

"I now pronounce you: man and wife. Daryl, you may kiss your bride."

And he did.


End file.
